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Opening remarks by Ambassador Simonyi Remarks by Defense Minister Ferenc Juhász Remarks by Secretary Paul Wolfowitz Remarks by Dr. István Nyírjesy
Opening remarks by Ambassador Simonyi Mr. Juhász, Secretary Wolfowitz, Dr. Nyírjesy, Mrs. Takács, fellow Hungarians and dear American friends. What a great honor for my wife, Náda, and myself to see you all here for the unveiling of this wonderful statue that you will see in just a few minutes. Exactly a year ago, I met with the Committee that did not exactly believe this statue will ever be erected on these Hungarian grounds. Maybe a little skeptical, but what this statue tells me is that we Hungarians can achieve great things and a lot when we hold hands. Maybe the best words to describe what Colonel Kováts means to us are: heroism, pride, dignity, honor, and national grace. I want to pay a tribute here to Colonel Michael Kováts de Fabricy and through him to all who have sacrificed their lives for freedom in the world, in Hungary, and in America. This will be a monument of friendship between two great nations, two great people holding hands in very difficult times. This is a message from the past to the present for the future which I think is right. Our two countries are now allies; we are there for one another in good times and bad. We have had some benchmarks of fighting for freedom and democracy. 1848. 1956. Many of you who are here today fled the communist regime in 1956 and I want to pay tribute to all of you. But I also want to say what a great moment 1989 was, and now we are here as an ally. The successors of Colonel Kováts stood with our Allies in the last decade in Kosovo, in Bosnia, in Afghanistan, and now in Iraq for a common cause. I want to pay tribute to the men and women who are at this moment fulfilling their duty, serving our countries in different places in the world, putting their lives in danger so that we can live in a free democratic society. I want to extend my thanks to those good citizens in Hungary and the United States who made this wonderful statue a possibility. This statue is something very unique. You do not erect statues every day. It is a celebration; it is a great moment. A statue that is for today and for future generations. The statue is a living thing and will probably outlive us all and it will outlive many generations to come. I want to pay tribute here to Paul Takács, who conceived this statue many years ago, and Mrs. Takács, Teca, thank you very much for embracing this and giving this wonderful statue to Hungary and to the United States. Finally, this statue will be a lasting part of Washington, D.C. I hope many Americans will stop and pause and think about the sacrifice, the honor, the friendship won in hard-fought battles for our ideals, for our freedom. This will be a sign of the deep bonds between Hungary and the United States. This will be a sign of deep bonds between America and Europe for generations to come. Minister Juhász, Secretary Wolfowitz, my dear Hungarian and American friends, it was a great honor for me to be able to address you here and thank you very much for being with us in this wonderful moment.
Remarks by Defense Minister Ferenc Juhász Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, dear Guests. Respected Secretary, Mr. Ambassador, my dear Hungarian and American friends. The Hungarian poet Vörösmarty in his famous poem “Szózat” says that “apart from this place in the whole world there is no other place for you,” whatever should come. Most Hungarians were prepared to die or to live for our liberty and freedom. Are we prepared to do so in another part of the world? I think the recent decades have proven that we Hungarians, if it comes to that, are ready to live and to die for liberty. Who is Michael Kováts? Who is this man who in his hand is holding the American flag and whose statue is now covered with the Hungarian colors? Is he Hungarian? Yes he is. Is he American? Yes he is. He is ours; he is our freedom fighter for liberty, whose life carries a message. And the message is that irregardless of geographical location, irregardless of nationality, there is one sanctity which we all hope for, and that is liberty. He also knew something else. He was an expert in his profession: He was an excellent hussar and he helped establish the cavalry tradition elsewhere. But there was something else he knew. His real sacrifice was the sacrifice of his life for liberty. I am sure you have been proud of certain deeds in your lives. I am sure you have seen something to which you contributed, perhaps a piece of art, and you said “yes, it was worth the effort.” And I am sure you yourself have been proud to be involved. On behalf of Hungary and every Hungarian citizen, I can say that we are all very proud to be unveiling this statue today. I am personally very proud to have been involved in this. Men tend to carve their past and sadness into stone or wood, or cast it in statues. That is the memorial they erect for standing and lasting values. For me, as Minister of Defense, it is also my duty to erect a memorial to liberty and to the protection of our common values. And this is also a testament to the fact that we wish to be good and reliable allies in NATO, and we wish to be contributors and cooperating in any effort in any part of the world where freedom and liberty are at stake. Believe me, we have a lot of Michael Kovátses – those who at this moment are serving in the protection, in the interest of our common values. Those who might not have a statue later on, but for whom we still reserve a part of our heart and our gratitude. I think this statue conveys the message that we have to cooperate, we have to show solidarity in the interest of protecting peace and freedom. I am sure there is going to be a debate later on about the statue itself. There might be some who will say that it is perhaps not all that perfect. I still say this statue is very captivating in itself, because it symbolizes the struggle of a man who is ready to sacrifice his life for freedom. And it also symbolizes the notion that the man and his horse might have fallen, but that flag is still standing erect. Ladies and Gentlemen, I wish that our common flag of freedom and our national flags all stand erect in the future. Thank you very much.
Remarks by Secretary Paul Wolfowitz Minister Juhász, Mr. Simonyi, Ladies and Gentlemen, It is an honor and privilege to be able to participate here in the dedication ceremony for the statue for a true hero – a man who gave his life for American freedom. Great sacrifices made by Colonel Kováts and the other hussar soldiers are demonstration that we have been partners for freedom for more than two centuries. Today, Hungarian and U.S. military servicemen and women stand shoulder to shoulder in Iraq, in Afghanistan, in the Balkans, and other places around the world to maintain the peace, to protect human rights, and to foster international cooperation. I confess that I am old enough to remember very vividly 1956. I remember the tragic scenes of Hungarian freedom fighters being mowed down by Soviet tanks. And even as a young boy, the sense of helplessness we felt here as Americans at seeing freedom extinguished. I also remember quite a few Hungarian refugees who turned up in my small town in upstate New York, and proceeded very rapidly to become Americans. I do not know if he knew that we were having this ceremony – I think it was a pure coincidence – but I just got a letter the other day from a man whom I knew when I was a child. His parents came here as refugees; his father worked as a janitor, his mother, a cleaning lady. He is a neurosurgeon, has a daughter, she is a lawyer and her granddaughter is two years old. It is another great Hungarian-American success story of which there are so many. And we shouldn’t be surprised by that because Hungarian genius has helped invent integrated circuits, color television, nuclear engineering, holography, supersonic flight, modern computers, the carburetor, the automatic gearbox and of course, most important of all, the Rubik’s cube. Hungarians or people of Hungarian descent have won Nobel prizes in every field in which the prize is awarded. And many distinguished Hungarian-Americans have made their indelible mark on society, in the sciences, in the arts, and in professional football. We have a great many debts to Hungary. I was asked before by some of the press, what can small countries contribute? I think we have seen just in this statue what one individual dedicated to freedom can contribute, and this individual was prepared to sacrifice everything. If 1956 was a year to mourn, 1989 was a year to celebrate and all Americans felt a wonderful feeling of joy to see the rebirth of freedom in Hungary and elsewhere in Central Europe. In that rebirth, freedom has been planted and grown, and it has grown in impressive ways. We now celebrate Hungary not just as a free country, but as one of the first three new members of the NATO alliance. Another friend of mine, Hungarian-American Charles Gáti is here, and he and many others made a big contribution in the 1990s in helping to bring Hungary into NATO. And it did not stop there. I remember the times when people feared that bringing Hungary, Poland, and the Czech Republic into NATO would build a new wall in the center of Europe to replace the old one. But instead, it has built a bridge and now more countries are to join and now Russia itself is in a brand-new and positive relationship with the rest of Europe and with the United States. And it hasn’t stopped there because Hungary has demonstrated its active support and cooperation to be an important and capable member of the international coalition that is united in the global fight against terrorism. I know that based on the values that we share, the values that Colonel Kováts gave his life for, the love of freedom and the commitment to a peaceful and stable world, we look forward to even closer links in the years to come. Thank you very much and may God bless both of our countries.
Remarks by Dr. István Nyírjesy Dear Mr. Secretary of Defense, Mr. Defense Minister of Hungary, Mr. Ambassador, Ladies and Gentlemen, I am deeply honored to be here today to help celebrate the life and honor the sacrifice of a Hungarian-born soldier of the Continental Army, Colonel Michael Kováts de Fabricy. Thank you Mr. Ambassador for the welcome. The life of Kováts was extensively studied by two Washingtonians, Elemér Bakó and László Eszenyi. Kováts was born into a well-to-do Hungarian family in 1724. At the age of 20, he became a professional hussar officer and fought bravely under Maria Theresa, Archduchess of Austria and Queen of Hungary and Bohemia. Kováts earned international recognition for his ability to train and command light cavalry troops. After a Viennese court disbanded the Hungarian hussar units because of worries about the growing strength of the Hungarian military, he obtained commission in the hussar division of the Prussian army. Eventually, he became disillusioned with the despotic political values of contemporary Europe and offered to fight for American freedom. He established close a relationship with Polish General Pulaski and by 1778 the U.S. Congress had commissioned Kováts as Colonel and Commander of the Pulaski legion. He led his troops in several key battles of the American revolutionary war. When the city of Charleston, South Carolina, came under British siege, Kováts fought valiantly to free it. The battlefield casualties weakened his battalion and he died for American freedom on May 11, 1779. At his grave his British opponent paid him tribute – the best cavalry the rebels ever had. The late Senator Thurmond once said that “Kováts was Hungarian by birth, American by choice, and South Carolingian by fate.” He made a plaque in memory of Kováts that stands in Charleston. It is only now, 224 years after his death, that his statue will stand in our nation’s capital. Today’s dedication has been in the making for nearly three decades. In 1975, Paul Takács, a renowned Hungarian artist and a veteran of the 1956 Hungarian freedom fight, created a reduced-size clay statue of the mortally wounded Kováts. In 2000, then Hungarian Ambassador Jeszenszky suggested that Takács’s statue be cast in bronze and a life-size monument be placed in the garden of the Embassy. The Kováts Memorial Committee successfully raised over 60 thousand dollars. Ambassador Simonyi embraced our project and obtained permission from the Hungarian Government to place this statue on Embassy grounds. We are infinitely grateful for his support. Kováts was one of the 141 Hungarian soldiers who fought for America in the war of independence. A century later, during the civil war more than 4,000 Hungarians served in the Union Army; five of these rose to the rank of general and 15 received a Congressional Medal of Honor. The contributions of these soldiers were among first made towards the realization of what today we call the American dream. Since the time of Kováts many Hungarians have found refuge and opportunity in the United States where they immigrated to escape poverty, professional stagnation, or political persecution. Those of us, Hungarian-Americans here today, and hundreds of thousands who came before us, are grateful to have had the opportunity to become citizens of this great nation. It is difficult to imagine what modern life would be like without the important contributions Hungarians have made to their new country. To mention just a few: Joseph Pulitzer, the newspaper publisher – the Pulitzer prize is named after him. Ágoston Haraszthy, the father of California winemaking, Joseph Galamb, who designed the Model T Ford, John Kemény, who created the BASIC computer language. Three of the fifteen Hungarian Nobel prize winners are Hungarian-Americans. And we should not forget the five conductors of leading American symphony orchestras who came from Hungary: Eugene Ormándy, George Széll, Fritz Reiner, George Solti, and Antal Doráti. We can add to these famous names American statesmen Congressman Tom Lantos of California, Ernest Istook of Oklahoma, and of course New York Governor George Pataki. Another Hungarian-born American, Andrew Grove, founded the INTEL corporation. Thank God for the Pentium chip! Philanthropist George Soros is well known to everybody. Time doesn’t allow the listing of creators and leading actors of the Hollywood movie industry and countless others who helped to build this great nation. The statue we unveil today is the symbol of the many ties and that bind Hungary and the United States. Our Committee formed by Hungarian-born Americans wishes to thank former Ambassador and Mrs. Jeszenszky and Ambassador and Mrs. Simonyi for their never-ending support and the Hungarian Minister of Defense, who graciously shipped the statue from Hungary. Special recognition is due to Teca Takács, wife of the sculptor, the late Paul Takács, who donated the statue to our committee which financed the statue. We are also grateful to Mrs. Susan Takács and the Nádasdy Foundation for managing our finances. Our work could not have been completed without the exceptional devotion and hard work of Cultural Attaché Gyöngyi Szenáky and the former member of the Hungarian Parliament, Fábián Józsa. Finally, I wish to thank each and every donor who made our project possible, and congratulate to Attila Dienes for the excellence of his work. With today’s dedication, our committee’s work will end and I invite Terézia Takács to present as a gift the Colonel Michael Kováts de Fabricy statue to the Republic of Hungary. May it serve as a symbol of Hungarian—American friendship and cooperation.
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